An immigrant is a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.

Prejudice is holding unfair and unreasonable opinions or feelings based on limited thought and knowledge.

Discrimination means treating a person or group of people differently and unfairly because of a certain characteristic.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story.

Developing an understanding of 'Front Desk' through rich discussions

English

In 'Front Desk: book club’, pupils developed their own personal responses to a text. In 'Front Desk: persuasive letter writing', pupils learnt about migration and explored themes of belonging and identity in the context of a realistic fiction novel.

In 'Mirror: reading’, pupils compared and discussed the similarities and differences between two families living in different countries. In ’Front Desk: book club’, pupils will discuss the experience of someone moving to a new country. 

In this unit, pupils explore and discuss the fictional novel, 'Front Desk'. They share their opinion on the text and explore the key themes of prejudice and discrimination. Finally, pupils discuss the characters in the text, as well as making personal connections and recommendations.

'Front Desk': book club

Discriminatory behaviour or images, whether on the grounds of race, gender, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation, or otherwise.

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Depiction or discussion of distress or humiliation e.g. bullying.

Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying

Depiction or discussion of violence or fighting, including threats of violence or the aftermath of violence.

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country

holding unfair and unreasonable opinions based on limited knowledge

a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story

the act of supporting or promoting a cause, idea, or person

treating a person unfairly because of a certain characteristic

an effect on the character or behaviour of someone else

How would you best describe **discrimination**?

He admitted to breaking the vase without being asked.

They laughed when she spoke, mocking her accent.

She told the truth about her mistake, even though it was hard.

He didn't get picked because of his disability.

He returned the lost wallet with all the money inside.

Which of the following are examples of discrimination?

Mia's family arrive in the United States.

Mia takes it upon herself to manage the front desk for the first time.

The washing machine breaks. Mr Yao blames Mia's parents.

Mia gets a C- in her first writing assignment. She is dispirited.

Mia finds a way to save the motel from being sold. Her family are the new owners

Put the following events in the order they occur in the story.

True or false? Life was fair for Mia and her family.

a genre in which oral stories are shared and passed down over time

a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge

a brief description accompanying an image

What is a suitable definition of a **memoir**?

What person perspective are memoirs written from?

From the front cover, which of the following are likely to be in the genre of non-fiction?

True or false? Fiction texts contain imaginary or made-up events.

Match the following terms of elements usually found in a fictional text to their definitions.

a consideration and interpretation of a reading experience

the way in which living things change and develop over millions of years

the act of living permanently in a foreign country

What is a suitable definition of **immigration**?

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Adult supervision recommended

Starter Quiz